Koepka's loss is an Englishman's gain

Ben Evans did all he could to try to secure his European Tour card for next year when he closed with a 66-65 weekend and tied for 11th at the Hong Kong Open.

The Englishman needed a little help, and it came from an unlikely source: Brooks Koepka.

Evans narrowly missed his card by finishing 111th on the European Tour money list. His big break came when Koepka chose to give up his European membership. That removed him from the money list, and moved Evans up one spot.

Koepka will not defend his title this week in the Turkish Airlines Open and is not playing the HSBC Champions next week in Shanghai. He will be short of the required 13 events, and he informed the tour he would no longer be a member.

It was the second straight week that an American came to the rescue of a European. Rich Beem agreed to give up his invitation in the Hong Kong Open to Ian Poulter, who otherwise would not have met the minimum requirement and been ineligible for the Ryder Cup next year.

Koepka’s decision figures to help one other player on the Race to Dubai. For the moment, Stephen Gallacher moved to No. 60, though the field of 60 players for the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai…